THE TORONTO FRENCH SCHOOL MOVEMENT
97
which inhibit language learning and reading; to develop more refined assessment of achievement in all areas; and specifically to test achievement in the second language at frequent intervals. Some testing has already been done with available techniques and indicates that children at the end of Grade I I appear to be achieving levels in English and French substantially in advance of those in other schools. The training and retraining of teachers plays a large role in the development of the school programme. The aim is to form a cadre of teachers with a sound background of linguistics capable themselves of furthering research into the problem of the school. Teachers are released from classes one day each month to visit and consult with other teachers and to analyse their work. This aim is assisted b y the establishment of a training centre ill the school for teachers of the Voix et Images de France method. Annually during the first two weeks ill September experts in the area of constructual learning assemble to discuss methods with the teachers. W. HARRY GILES, Toronto
EXISTENTIALISM
IN AMERICAN
EDUCATIONAL
PHILOSOPHY
A popular magazine recently characterized contemporary American philosophy as a war between two opposing "schools" of thought, the Logicians and the LotusEaters, the term Logicians referring to those philosophers who concern themselves primarily with the analysis of language and t h e term Lotus-Eaters referring to the existentialists, l) Although the article was a popular, non-technical rendering of the current situation, it was quite accurate. Concern with philosophical systems is, in the main, a dated concern. Present interests tend to follow one of two types of analysis: language analysis or phenomenological analysis of the category of existence. The case with general philosophy is also the case with educational philosophy. Since the late 1950% there has been little concern with philosophic systems and their implications for education. Rather, the efforts of philosophers of education have revolved about the two types of analysis mentioned. The parallel between general philosophy and educational philosophy continues further in that, with both, the analysis of language has attracted the interests and efforts of more philosophers t h a n has existentialism. Existentialism, however, continues to gain attention in both spheres of philosophic activity. Educational philosophers, in particular, are forced to attend to the trenchant criticisms of the existentialist, for, by the very nature of their activity, philosophers of education are required to concern themselves with questions of particularly h u m a n concern, questions having to do with the development of specific h u m a n beings. The purpose of this article, then, is to indicate to the reader the nature of the literature on existentialism in the journals and books of educational philosophy 2) and to attempt to make an assessment of existentialism's influence on and status in American educational philosophy. Prior to the publication of Kneller's Existentialism and Education in 1958, a) few articles had been written on the topic in the journals of educational philosophy. The publication of that volume, however, opened the gates, and since then and with increasing frequency numerous articles and papers have been written. Only one other booklength treatment of the subject has been written since, 4) b u t several
98
COMMUNICATIONS
--
BERICHTE - COMMUNICATIONS
leading textbooks in educational philosophy now have sections or chapters devoted to existentialism. W h a t one finds in a survey of this body of literature are two approaches. The approach which is used more frequently involves an analysis of one or more aspects of existentialism to determine possible bearings on specific educational topics such as freedom, authority, subjective knowledge, and the objectification of students. The other approach has involved the setting forth of the philosophic positions and educational statements, if any, of certain existentialist philosophers. The two philosophers of education who have done the most work in attempting to determine the bearings of existentialism on education have been George Kneller and Van Cleve Morris, to whom earlier references have been made. Although each draws from the works of Iqietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Marcel, Buber, and others, both rely primarily on the writings of Satire. An interesting and somewhat amusing aside to this point was the exchange of articles between Vandenberg 5) and DeSoto e) concerning KneUer's treatment of Heidegger in Existentialism and Education. Vandenberg argued that Kneller, b y relying in the main on secondary sources had misconstrued the meaning of several of Heidegger's points, particularly Heidegger's notion of death. DeSoto replied by calling Vandenberg a "dedicated flawpicker." His reply, on a more serious note, pointed out that Kneller was attempting to demonstrate that in existentialism one could find adequate grounds for rejecting the usual concepts of social adjustment, replacing those concepts with an education which assists us in finding authentic meaning in life, in ourselves, and in our relations with others. If one looks in Kneller for more definitive guidelines for educational practice than an emphasis on authenticity and the quest for personal meaning, he will be disappointed. True, Kneller does discuss the relation between the knower and the known; he does treat of the topics of death, anguish, and commitment and indicates the role of the teacher in bringing about awareness of these; he does point to the need of teachers to be authentic persons; and, he does emphasize the basic moral nature of an existentialist education. With the exception of some discussion of the place of literature and the arts in an existentialist curriculum, however, he does not tell the reader just what a curriculum, a course of study, or a school based on the "principles" of existentialism would look like. Morris, in a text in the philosophy of education, 7) attempts to develop such specific guidelines. He says that tile subject matters to be emphasized would be those which require individual choosing. He suggests art, ethics, moral philosophy, and religion as such subject matters. Socratic questioning is the teaching technique he suggests, and he points out t h a t the entire process of education will be one of character education, since the primary goal of education will be that of responsible selfhood. I n his later work, s) Morris expands on what he calls the Socratic Paradigm as the teaching method most logically consistent with existentialism. Although there are empirically verifiable facts which can be "told," the personal appropriation of these to the life of each student involves the question of meaning which cannot be "told" b u t must be raised. Morris illustrates from art, literature, history, and religion just how this teaching b y questioning might be done. The key feature in all of these is in the use of the "facts" of each. The information in each of these disciplines does not constitute the end of the instruction; rather, the information is used as a means of provoking the student to awareness and to making choices in respect to himself, the world, and other persons based on t h a t awareness.
EXISTENTIALISM IN AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
99
Kneller and Morris, working independently of each other, have exercised considerable influence among American philosophers of education by persistently raising the question, "Where are you other philosophers of education allowing, in your respective theories, for the subjectivity, for the authenticity of individual students ?" Although Kneller has moved on to other topics of interest to him, Morris continues his investigations into the bearings of existentialism on education. Perhaps it should be noted at this point that although little mention has been made of the philosophic expertise of these two men, both, in their writings, devote considerable space to establishing the philosophic grounds for their educational statements. But Kneller and Morris have not been entirely alone in their search for the meaning of existentialism for education. Several articles and papers have been directed to the same search. One article 9) and one paper,10) in particular, merit attention. I n Bower's article, he contends that "If educational theorists are going to be taken seriously b y the public, they will have to t u r n their attention to the problems of h u m a n existence when attempting to justify their programs. A number of educational theorists have already rejected the metaphysician's interests as irrelevant, and are t u r n i n g to the needs of society in order to justify educational programs t h a t teach specific skills and social values. This approach, which is characteristic of both pragmatism and social reconstructionism, is inadequate because it emphasizes only the social side of man's nature. I t ignores the inner man, the solitariness of one's being, where significant decisions are made. Existentialism is the only philosophical point of view which stresses this aspect of m a n ' s reality." 11) He further contends t h a t with our present system of education a student m a y go all through life on other people's facts and rules of conduct without ever formulating and expressing his own thoughts and feelings. 12) By creating students who are self-reliant in the areas of ideas and values, the school accomplishes its task of making itself expendable. With this conception of the task of the school, B r y a n t m a y be proposing a solution to the problem found in the fact that, while schools must possess some institutional form, existentialists have either been indifferent to or somewhat antagonistic toward institutions in general. The paper referred to is one by Troutner in which he sets forth five specifics which the educator can learn from the existential philosopher. I n the first of these, Troutner points out that, although teachers have always complained of difficulty in understanding the desires, whims, etc., of their students, the mounting evidence indicates t h a t the present generation of students " m a y take the prize" for being the most difficult to understand. I t is at this point that he thinks existentialism can make a contribution in t h a t the existentialists' analyses of the predicament of modern man, of the current h u m a n situation, provide new ways of viewing the stresses of the current generation of students. The second thing which educators can learn from existentialism, according to Troutner, is that educators have to too great extent treated students as objects to be manipulated rather t h a n as subjects to be lived with. This point, obviously is not new with Trontner, for both Kneller and Morris have criticized the objectification of students in American education. Troutner's third point has to do with the therapeutic value of existentialism on the personality of the teacher. By this he refers to the teacher's need for a keen awareness of his own values, attitudes, and of the pain associated with his own struggle to
100
COMMUNICATIONS
-
BERICHTE -- COMMUNICATIONS
achieve authenticity. In the fourth point, he criticizes educators for being concerned more with transmitting specific facts than with developing each student's "completeness as a m an . " Troutner's last suggestion is directed to specialized areas in education such as educational psychology and counseling, areas which have traditionally deMt with students with little conception of what it means to be human. Insights from existential philosophy and phenomenology are bringing major changes in counseling, and he lends his support to this development. In the beginning of this article a second approach in the literature on existentialism and education was mentioned, an approach t h a t looked to particular existentialist writers. In the past five years, the journal Educational Theory has published one such article each year. When the author asked the editor of the journal whether or not this constituted a series by design or by chance, he was informed t h a t the onesuch-article-per-year had occurred simply by chance. The series includes articles on Frankl, 13) Buber, in) Camus, 15) Unamuno, 16) and Kierkegaard, 17) in t h a t order. Wirth, in the article on Frankl, briefly summarized the main points of Frankl's thought and proceeds to indicate some of the possible outcomes in education if Frankl's emphasis on the development of responsible selfhood was also an emphasis of contemporary education. Winetrout points out t h a t it is Buber who speaks most directly to the m a t t e r of teaching and to the matter of interpersonal relationships within the educational setting. The basic tenet of all such relationships, of course, is the I-Thou dialogue, and it is to this t h a t Winetrout devotes most of his attention in the article. I n the article on Camus, Denton briefly explains the ontology of the absurd and the ethics of rebellion. F r o m these two he derives three conclusions in respect to education. The first of these is t h a t education, in its institutional form, can justify its existence only to the extent t h a t it implements programs for the development of lucid - t h a t is, moral - individuals. Since the school's rationale for existing is t h a t it produce moral individuals, education is, in essence, a moral enterprise. His second conclusion from the first in that the primary purpose of education is not to develop rational men or social animals but, rather, to develop moral persons. The third conclusion is t h a t all educational considerations are to be grounded in Camus' theory of man rather than in assertions about the nature of society, or of history, or of the universe, or of God. The article on Unamuno deals primarily with Unamuno's statements regarding his role as provocateur in his teaching and his statements on the nature of knowledge and truth. Hill's article on Kierkegaard is an a t t e m p t to clarify what Hill perceives as being misconceptions of Kierkegaard in the literature of educational philosophy. After a brief biographical note, he discusses Kierkegaard's philosophic method, Kierkegaard's criticisms of Hegel's conceptions of society, Kierkegaard's psychology, and his political position. Because of the stated purpose of the article, to clarify misconceptions in the literature, Hill makes no a t t e m p t in the essay to find any "implications" for education. To this point, I have attempted to indicate the nature of the literature which has dealt with existentialism and its possible effects in education. An assessment of the influence and status of existentialism in American educational philosophy is a much more difficult task. Certain observations, in addition to the fact of the increasing number of articles on the topic, can be made which will assist in the assessment. Existentialism is an extremely popular topic among undergraduates on American college and university campuses. Students have become quite involved with the writings of such thinkers as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. On almost any
EXISTENTIALISM IN AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
101
campus, one can start an immediate debate over the relative merits of these and other writers. This enthusiasm has spilled over into education courses, particularly those labelled philosophy of education and foundations of education. Professors, on more than one occasion, have been forced to "catch up" with their students by the insistent questioning of those students. Several texts in philosophy of education, by now including sections or chapters on existentialism, have given students additional opportunity to raise such questions. And a few universities, because of the orientations of the professors involved, actively encourage students in education to grapple with the topics and questions of existentialism. I n respect to professional organizations, contributing to the literature on existentialism in educational philosophy has not prevented advancement in the national Philosophy of Education Society. For example, two recent presidents of the Society have written extensively on existentialism and are, in varying degrees, identified with existentialism. A major problem, however, mitigates against existentialism's having a great deal of influence on educational practice. Although it does treat of topics generally overlooked in American educational thought - subjectivity, self-identification, and metaphysical anxiety, for example - few guides for action have been derived. W h a t would a curriculum based on existentialism consist of ? I n what ways would the behavior of an "existentialist teacher" differ from any other teacher ? Would an "existentialist administrator" operate in ways different from any other ? Is the very existence of the school as an institution of society consistent with existentialism's general lack of concern with and for institutions ? These and other similar questions have yet to be answered. True, courses of action have been suggested. Several of these have been mentioned in this article. But, thus far the suggested courses of action have been without sufficient force of argument to convince most professors of educational administration and professors of teacher education. Even though existentialism, as yet, possesses no coherent and convincing body of guides to educational practice, the trenchant criticisms b y its advocates of specific points in American education have provoked, and continue to provoke, lively debate and some disconcerting re-evaluation. Perhaps that is all one should expect from the existential "gadfly." NOTES 1) " W h a t (if anything) to Expect from Today's Philosophers," Time, LXXXVII, J a n u a r y 7, 1966, pp. 24-25. 2) A few articles on existentialism and education have appeared in journals other t h a n those of educational philosophy. For example: W. CERF: "Existentialist Mannerism and Education," Journal o] Philosophy, LII, May 17, 1955, pp. 141-152. 3) G. KNELLER: Existentialism and Education. New York: Philosophical Library 1958. 4) V. MORRIS: Existentialism in Education. New York: Harper and Row 1966. 5) D. VANDENBERG: "Kneller, Heidegger, and Death," Educational Theory, XV, July 1965, pp. 217-221. 6) A. DESoTo : "Heidegger, Kneller, and Vandenberg," Educational Theory, XVI, July 1966, pp. 239-241. 7) V. M o ~ I S : Philosophy and the American School. Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1961, pp. 317, 383-400. 8) V. ~/[ORRIS, op. cit., pp. 135--154. 9) C. ]BOWERS: "Existentialism and Educational Theory," Educational Theory XV, July 1965, pp. 222-229.
102
COMMUNICATIONS -- BERICHTE -- COMMUNICATIONS
10) L. TROUTNER: "What Can the Educator Learn from the Existential Philosopher ? ", Philosophy o] Education, ed. by F. Villemain, Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University 1966, pp. 98-105. 11) C. BowERs: op. cir., p. 223. 12) Ibid., p. 227. 13) A. WroTH: "Viktor E. Frankl and 'The Responsible Self'," Educational Theory, XlI, October 1962, pp. 241-246. 14) K. WINETROUT: "Buber: Philosopher of the 1-Thou Dialogue," Educational Theory, XlII, J a n u a r y 1963, pp. 53-57. 15) D. DENTON: "Albert Camus: Philosopher of Moral Concern," Educalional Theory, XIV, April 1964, pp. 99-102. 16) J. WILLERS: " U n a m u n o Centennial," Educational Theory, XV, October 1965, pp. 317-320. 17) B. HILL: "Soren Kierkegaard and Educational Theory," Educational Theory, XVI, October 1966, 344-353. DAVID E. DENTON, Lexington, USA
EDUCATIONAL A CRITICAL
PHILOSOPHY ANALYSIS
OF
AS SCHOOL
MYTHOLOGY: PHILOSOPHIES
I)
"Our philosophy," said a representative of the New Jersey Breeders Association, "is to give the consumer the best bottle of milk possible." This statement, an obvious advertising ploy, illustrates a common misuse of the term "philosophy." Such semantic confusion is not confined to the business sector, but may be found in almost any written school or school board philosophy. If the National School Boards Association is correct that, "the educational philosophy of a school is basic - so basic, in fact, that it is urged that any board just beginning to develop a set of written policies might well give the writing of such a statement precedence over all else, ''2) then school boards would do well to review the procedures b y which they create philosophies. The purpose of this paper is first, to criticize the haphazard, clich6-ridden mythology t h a t passes for philosophy, and second, to provide a set of guidelines b y which to create school philosophies t h a t actually fulfill their essential function. One of the writers has examined m a n y such school and school board philosophies and reviewed all the written school philosophies of all entire state. The other writer has been a professor of educational philosophy. This paper, therefore, is a joint product of the inductive process and philosophical analysis.
Ignored and Con]used Values "The dignity, worth, and freedom of every h u m a n being are deemed necessary sources for democratic values," says one school board philosophy. These ringing statements of democratic ideals, oddly enough, had to be implemented b y federal troops, for they come from one of the large Southeastern school districts which required federal intervention to guarantee Negroes their "dignity, worth and freedom." Similarly, we read from another written statement that, " I m p o r t a n t among the outcomes to be achieved are strong moral character and deep appreciation of a spiritual value, love of home and country, respect ]or duly constituted authority, general concern and thoughtful consideration for the welfare and rights of others, regardless o] race or creed..." Eemphasis added by writers]. This statement, equally an expression of democratic values, played little part ill the day-to-day workings of a district which, until quite recently, also chose to remain totally segregated.
